DIY: 5 Hostess Gifts for the Holidays

What to bring to a holiday party? Skip the bottle of wine and tote something handmade instead.

Here, we share five DIY holiday host and hostess gifts, some of which take minutes and others a few hours to pull together. Pick the ambitious projects if you have the energy and desire, or toss some foliage in a ceramic vase and call it good. Time expenditure doesn’t buy beauty: we think all five of these gifts are equally charming.

Above: This DIY wreath of foraged boxwood and cedar will smell beautiful and add a holiday note to any table, wall, or door. Get the how-to from Gardenista’s Erin Boyle in her blog, Reading My Tea Leaves: Boxwood and Cedar.

Above: Sometimes what’s on the outside counts. This petite package from Reading My Tea Leaves is made from magazine pages tied with metallic string and adorned with winterberries; ideal for wrapping up Lindt LINDOR Truffles.

Above: Are you as entranced by these as we are? If you have some time before your gift is due, try your hand at making bayberry candles, a traditional Cape Cod craft. Read Justine’s thorough how-to in The Romance of the Homemade Candle.